“Now turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins. Then wonderful times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and He will send Jesus your Messiah to you again” (Acts: 3: 19-20) NLT.
I’m so glad that being a Christian is not a monotonous, boring life where nothing ever changes, but it is constantly on the move. Religion, of course never changes because all is so predictable where everything is static. However Jesus is reality! When you meet Him and have His Spirit in your life every day’s a new day and signs, wonders and miracles are exciting possibilities.
For many years I was simply a professional religious minister, I had the Lord in my life, but the Lord didn’t have me in His life! On the 14th February 1974 in a little Methodist Church in O’Connor, Canberra I was born again; again! That was an awesome “time of refreshing” as Jesus invaded my life and plunged and immersed me in His Spirit, and these last 35 + years have simply been an amazing journey of faith. The verse above says there are “times of refreshing” so constant joyous times of Holy Spirit “Refreshing” is not only possible, but rather necessary if we are to keep growing in Christ Jesus.
To emphasize what I am saying, during May/June this year Doreen and I were invited to New Zealand to speak at a conference being hosted by the ICFM (International Convention of Faith Ministries). Little did we know, but New Zealand was God’s plan to refresh us both again. After ministering in Auckland, Wellington and Whangarei we both were wonderfully refreshed by the Spirit of the Lord. We hadn’t realized that our daily walk with Jesus had slowly grown stale and God had something most joyful for us to experience. It has seemed ages since we witnessed such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s saving, healing and refreshing power, and our eyes and hearts were opened and warmed again, Hallelujah! We praise God for those obedient Rhema Pastors, Colin, Stefan & Dave whom He used to gather His children from across the country and who were so open to receiving a fresh touch from the Lord. Friendship in the ministry is so vital and we both enjoyed the company of ministering alongside Pastors Bob and Joy Nichols, of Covenant Cathedral, Fort Worth Texas.
In early July I again ministered alongside Pastors Bob and Joy Nichols, but this time in Adelaide SA at “Revival Now” hosted by Pastors Bill & Heather Nott at Liberty Family Church. Doreen was unable to be with me as we were blessed to have two of our American grandchildren (Hope & Lily Sturm) stay on with us after Jennifer and Joel had returned to the US. However, refreshment and joy were very much part of “Revival Now” and again I returned home full of the joy of the Lord. Pastor Nott feels called of the Lord to honor older ministers who have spent several decades preaching the Gospel and has encouraged me as one of those “fathers in the faith” still active in Australia. Also ministering at “Revival Now” was Australian entrepreneur and businessman Dr Peter Daniels who also attends Liberty Family Church where he and his wife, Robina are Members. Dr Daniels honored Pastor Nichols and I by gifting to each of us a gold “Caleb Medal” with the inscription engraved “For outstanding Global Christian Service”. Ps Bob Nichols and I are both deeply moved by having this honor bestowed on our lives and ministries.
Yes, the Spirit of Jesus does refresh our lives and meets with us again and again and again! Just as we have been revived afresh, so you too can receive His refreshment as the Father sends Jesus to you again!
We are looking forward to having you attend “Camp Meeting” 3 – 8 October here on Mamre Farm this year. A brochure is available with this newsletter.
In His Grip, Harry